


12 Days of Christmas

by TheIntelligentHufflepuff



Category: Captain America (Movies)
Genre: Adventure, Christmas Shopping, Fantasy elements, Fluff, M/M, Male-Female Friendship, Mild Humour, POV Natasha Romanov, True Love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-18
Updated: 2016-12-18
Packaged: 2018-09-09 15:08:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,321
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8895964
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheIntelligentHufflepuff/pseuds/TheIntelligentHufflepuff
Summary: Bucky Barnes has twelve days to find Steve a Christmas present good enough to acompany a love confession. 
 Natasha Romanov is here to help.





	

**Author's Note:**

> This is an early Christmas present for a friend, happy Christmas friend! (And Merry Christmas reader, if you celebrate). If the line scans weirdly it's because AO3 has a personal vendetta against showing my italics. Sorry.

It took twelve full days of December for Barnes to realise. Twelve. 

 

Natasha, naturally, had already noticed the conspicuous hole in Barnes’ festive provisions, and was waiting smugly for the man himself to count his chickens, find one missing, and have a fit all over his preferred member of the (Secret?) Avengers. 

 

She just hadn't counted on that member being her. 

 

“How could I forget?” Barnes grunted, grip around Natasha’s third favourite mug dangerously tight. 

 

“Amnesia?” Natasha suggested blandly. 

 

The effect of Barnes’ responding glare was somewhat lessened by the fact that he was both wearing a fluffy pink jumper and sparkly Santa hat.

 

Speaking of “Are you going somewhere, or…?” 

 

“It's laundry day.” Barnes replied in the tone one might use for an interrogation “And I haven't washed my hair.” 

 

Natasha smiled “Never said anything about the outfit.”

 

“It was implied!”

 

“If you want. It's a good look though, keep it up.” 

 

“I hate you.” Barnes mumbled, despite the pleased twitch at the corner of his mouth.

 

“Of course.” Natasha assured him. She glanced at her watch; half ten. If they got going soon they could get a steady day of shopping in “What ideas did you have?” 

 

“Ideas?” 

 

“Yes, ideas.” Heck this man was a top class operative but he floundered when faced with buying a Christmas present. 

 

“Um. No?” 

 

Natasha rolled her eyes. Men. No creativity when it mattered. 

 

“Well what does he like? Apart from art, hip hop, pop, green tea, books and the colour blue.” 

 

“Um.” Barnes gulped “Justice?” 

 

“Really.” 

 

Scrubbing a hand down his face, Barnes admitted “I was hoping you'd know. You're his best friend.” 

 

A little spurt of warmth flickered in the pit of Natasha’s stomach. She smiled wryly “I’m pretty sure that's you. Or Wilson.” 

 

“That's the problem.” Barnes agreed despairingly “He's my best friend and I haven't got a clue what to get him.” 

 

“Art supplies!” Natasha insisted “A NOW CD. A teaset. The New York Times Bestseller. A poster or a t-shirt.” 

 

“I could but it's not…” Barnes trailed off, gaze drifting off into the distance “This has to be special.” 

 

“Oh?” Natasha prodded, leaning over the breakfast bar in interest. 

 

A light tinge of pink spread across Barnes’ cheeks “I was gonna..it has to...to say it. I was going to say it.” 

 

Natasha blinked. She knew what it was. Had known since a few months after the Accords mess, when Barnes’ thoughts got too much and he finally took her up on her offer of medicinal inebriation. He’d whispered it like a sinner at confession, like his love was gold to hoard only to be spent in secret, lest his enemies know how much he had and connive to steal it. Now, though, it seemed Barnes’d had a change of heart. 

 

“Are you sure?” Natasha asked. Cautiously, steadily. Because that was her heart now, all her wild loves left in the dark. 

 

Barnes nodded grimly “He deserves to know that...that he belongs in my heart even if he belongs nowhere else in the world. Which isn't true, but.” 

 

“That's nice.” Natasha smiled, though inside she was noting an exploitable weakness (not that she would use it- Barnes was, at least, an ally and Steve was one of her closest friends). 

 

“Nice.” Barnes repeated incredulously “Terrifying, more like.” 

 

“Both?” Natasha offered “It isn't for me to say, but I don't think you'll be rejected. At least not completely.” 

 

“What's that supposed to mean?” Barnes asked suspiciously.

 

Natasha simply smiled “C’mon. Time to hit the shops.” 

 

****

 

“My nerves can't take this anymore.” Barnes groaned, eyes screwed shut and head tipped against a display “I genuinely cannot take it.” he winced as another child decided that a shopping centre was the place to practice their horror movie scream “I’m going to murder someone.” 

 

Natasha glanced around her. Luckily, the innumerable Christmas shoppers seemed too absorbed in their own quests to find the perfect present to pay heed to Barnes’ sensory overload. 

 

“Well, we’ve been here five hours-”

“An eternity.” Barnes interrupted.

 

Natasha gave him a dirty look and continued “And we haven't found anything through the conventional route, so I don't think we will. Let's go.” 

 

Barnes detached himself from the wall and was halfway to the exit before Natasha blinked. 

 

Okay then. Back to the drawing board. 

 

****

 

“You could get him jewellery.” Natasha suggested as she drove them back to their current HQ in undisclosed location #5 “Like, a ring…” 

 

“No!” Barnes practically yelled “That's too much too fast.”

 

“But don't you want to?” She pressed, a little bit genuinely curious. 

 

“Well, yes.” Barnes admitted, like it was the most obvious thing in the world “But no.” She raised an eyebrow “No! Natasha.” 

 

“Fine.” 

 

****

 

Natasha crept up behind Barnes in the basement, where he was supposed to be lifting weights. Of course in reality he was instead gazing dreamily at Steve, sat across the room chatting to Wanda, face flushed with exercise. 

 

“What if you gave him back his shield?” 

 

“Christ O’Reiley don't do that!” Barnes hissed, just loud enough for supersoldier ears to hear. Steve glanced up in concern, smirked, and returned to his conversation. 

 

Natasha allowed Barnes to herd her upstairs, away from prying teammates.

 

“I could. I’d feel a lot happier about having him fighting with something to protect himself with, and it is a big part of his role as Captain America but that's the thing. I'm not buying a present for Captain America, I'm buying a present for Steve. And he's not ready to be Cap again.”

 

Natasha didn't point out that sometime- maybe tomorrow, maybe in two years time- the world would need Captain America, whether he was ready or not. Christmas was, after all, a time for grasping comfort. 

 

****

 

“What if what you need isn't something on this world?”

 

Barnes laughed.

 

“What, are you suggesting we go Christmas shopping in Asgard or something?” 

 

Natasha gave him a wicked smile “Or something.” 

 

****

 

“This is America Chavez. Say hi.”

 

“Hi.” Barnes said obligingly, eyes sparkling with a suppressed laugh as he noted the theme in Miss America’s clothing “I don't know whether to joke about Steve or Trump.” 

 

“Por sorpuesto. He has a sense of humour.” America deadpanned. 

 

Barnes shrugged, unphased. Natasha had a feeling they'd get on. 

 

“So, you're looking for presents in the multiverse.” America's arms were crossed but she was smiling ever so slightly “Must be some guy.” 

 

Natasha shifted, glancing up. They were in the basement again, and the others would be back soon. 

 

“The best.” Barnes assured America, without hesitation the same way Steve wouldn't hear a word against Barnes’ prevailing better nature. 

 

Their wedding was going to be so cute. 

 

“You ready?” She asked America, who nodded in return. 

 

Barnes shot Natasha a questioning look as America started glowing; she mouthed to him to watch. He did, eyes growing wide in awe as America stomped on the ground and produced a glowing, pulsating star shaped hole in the fabric of reality next to the dumbells. 

 

America tossed her hair smugly and, with a flippant “Let's go”, jumped feet first out of their dimension. 

 

“My life is so weird.” Barnes murmured. Natasha pushed him towards the hole. 

 

****

 

The dimension they landed in was lush with vegetation, air hot and wet and heavy. Natasha was distinctly reminded of that tree planet from Star Wars with the Ewoks. 

 

“Follow me.” America instructed them, marching off into one of what appeared to be many forests. 

 

The trees towered over them as they slipped and slided over slimy rocks and roots, the green around them chittering with the lives of stranger animals than Natasha wanted to imagine. As they continued, the pseudo path they followed started to incline, the air thinning to something more breathable. Around them, the ramshackle ruins of ancient dwellings emerged, half suffocated in the clutches of mussely vines. Very Indiana Jones. 

 

“What are we looking for?” Barnes enquired, gaze never ceasing to dart around their surroundings in a mixture of watchfulness and intrigue.

 

“A profession of undying love.” America responded cryptically. She had barely broken a sweat. 

 

“Okay.” 

 

They walked on. About half an hour later, they crested the hill and… wow. Okay. 

 

“That’s a temple made of gold. Literal gold.” 

 

America hummed the affirmative, gesturing unaffectedly at their surroundings “Metal capital of the multiverse.” 

 

Wow. 

 

America gestured for them to continue, trotting down a slight slope towards the first set of towering, glittering pillars. They followed as she weaved through the colonnades, all intricately carved, and into the blistering heat of the temple’s innards. They encountered no-one as they advanced, but every now and then a low hum would tremble through the air and off the walls, almost like monastic prayer. Somehow, though, it seemed to vibrate through Natasha’s ribcage rather than her ears. 

 

“Here.” America informed them succinctly, halting just outside the threshold of a room almost small enough to be a cupboard. Peering into the unlit gloom revealed nothing more than a dirty bowl set on the floor, half full of muddied water. 

 

“What am I meant to do?” Barnes asked apprehensively. 

 

Natasha pulled Steve’s dog tags out of her back pocket, having stolen them from around his neck with a hug just as he left. She dangled them in front of Barnes’ face, the tarnished metal barely mustering a reflection of light in comparison to the surrounding walls. He took them carefully, running the chain through his metal fingers. 

 

“Put them, and a drop of your blood, into that bowl, and give your man a talisman that will save his life anytime anywhere. Even in impossible situations.” 

 

Barnes looked to Natasha sharply, narrowing his eyes. She tilted her head to the side, lips twitching upwards despite herself. 

 

“What’s the cost?” 

 

“Good question.” Natasha added. Barnes looked to her once, this time in confusion “What? I don’t know specifics.” 

 

“The one time.” Barnes muttered. Natasha rolled her eyes. 

 

America’s face twitched. 

 

Oh no, Natasha thought, this isn’t going to be good. 

 

“Memories.” 

 

Barnes paled, jaw tightening. He glanced to the bowl again, probably weighing up the offer against the threat of losing even more of his past “How many?” 

 

“All of them.” 

 

“Fuck.”

 

Barnes shook his head “No. No I...I can’t do that again. Even...even for Steve.” 

 

Subtly, Natasha crooked her hand around Barnes’ elbow. America nodded decisively, politely ignoring the hunted look in the man’s eyes. No more was said before they put the temple behind them. 

 

****

“Um…” Barnes stood frozen in the doorway, metal arm curled up in a slightly defensive position.

 

Natasha glanced up distractedly, in the middle of trying to wrestle a scaled tail away from the glassware on the table. Opposite her, Steve stood with a bowl of sausages in one hand, and the other curled under the chin of the baby dragon lying between them. 

 

“Buck,” Steve tossed casually over his shoulder “could you please come and pet her belly?” 

 

Looking like he woke up to all of his furniture glued to the ceiling, Barnes drifted forwards and began obligingly scritching the iridescent purple scales on the dragon’s exposed underside. 

 

“Steve.” Barnes said seriously “Have I had a psychotic break?” 

 

Smiling, Steve shook his head ‘no’ “Coulson brought her here. Apparently they found her in the middle of a crater, all alone, when they were investigating a UFO sighting. We’re just trying to get her calm enough to sleep until Thor can send someone down to collect her.” 

 

“It might be Lady Sif.” Natasha added. For clarity, of course, not at all because Lady Sif was definitely her favourite Asgardian. 

 

“Okay.” Barnes whispered quietly. 

 

The dragon huffed happily and rubbed its snout against Steve’s palm, while its tail curled around Natasha’s hand. Which would have been alright, if it hadn’t then promptly gone to sleep, and if its grip hadn’t been unbreakable. 

 

“Great.” Natasha said, absolutely tonelessly. 

 

Steve smiled a genuinely happy, boyish smile, still stroking the dragon’s chin and cooing slightly “I don’t know. I don’t really mind spending some more time with a baby dragon.” 

 

Natasha raised an eyebrow at Barnes significantly. He mouthed his objection vigorously, and without room for argument. Natasha huffed. 

 

****

 

“I found something.” Bucky finally said, settling himself down opposite Natasha on a threadbare armchair. 

 

She leant forwards eagerly “What is it?”

 

Awkwardly, Barnes extracted a matte black box from his hoodie pocket, disentangling it from reams of wrapping. The box was too big to be a ring, but not long enough to be anything on a chain. 

 

“A bracelet?” Natasha guessed. 

 

Barnes nodded, checking his surroundings carefully before lifting the lid. It was lovely, comprised of two entwined bands of silver, looping and ducking like flowing water. Inscribed inside were six all important words : To the end of the line. 

 

Natasha’s fingers found their way to the arrow hanging from her neck “It’s beautiful.” 

 

“Not too cliche?” Barnes worried. 

 

“Maybe,” Natasha smiled “But Steve will love it.” 

 

****

 

Natasha wasn’t there when the gift was given, but she heard enough about it from both parties to have a fair idea of how it went down. 

 

The wee hours of Christmas morning. Two super soldiers too awake from Midnight Mass to go to sleep, pillowed up on the sofa. A bowl of popcorn resting between their tangled feet, soft music playing in the background from Bucky’s phone. A line, heartfelt and quaking in the delivery. Eyes meeting, each thinking the same thing, each regarding the other. The pulse of the moment, quickened in anticipation. A hand curling around a box, shaking. Another gripping reverently. A gasp and a wince and a joyful, disbelieving smile. Five stuttered words containing ‘I’ and ‘Love’ and ‘You’. The glow of fairy lights over a tender, gentle kiss. The warm press of palms against each other as the singer croons-

 

Take my hand  
Take my whole life too

 

-and one says to the other “Merry Christmas, darling.”

**Author's Note:**

> (Lyrics from the song 'Can't Help Falling in Love', the Twenty One Pilots cover specifically. It's cute)


End file.
